This application is related to the following applications:
(1) Ser. No. 09/343,232 (BC9-98-059/1963-7253US1), entitled xe2x80x9cA Telecommunications Management Network System and Method for Mapping a Multi-Threaded Persistent Agent Management Information Base to a Configurable Data Base to Store Managed Objects, Attributes and Internal Implementation Detailsxe2x80x9d;
(2) Ser. No. 09/343,236 (BC9-98-061/1963-7254US1), entitled xe2x80x9cA System and Method For User Definable Attributes for Association Control in a Telecommunications Management Network Using OSIxe2x80x9d; and
(3) Ser. No. 09/343,729 (BC9-98-060/1963-7252US1), entitled xe2x80x9cA System And Method For Application Independent Association Control Using Directory Services For Parameter Modification, Dynamic Directory Updates And Changing Association Control Types,xe2x80x9d all assigned to same assignee as the present application are filed concurrently Jun. 30, 1999.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system and method that routes messages between applications. More particularly, the invention relates to routing messages, for example CMIP request messages, between telecommunication management applications without requiring the sending application to know which application should receive the message and the characteristics of the application that will receive the message.
2. Background of the Invention
Applications, including agents and managers, in the telecommunications management network (xe2x80x9cTMNxe2x80x9d) Environment, need to transmit messages to other applications. However, monitoring and tracking which application is performing which function is cumbersome and time consuming for an application. It is therefore highly desirable that an application be able to transmit a message, such as a Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP) request, without knowing which application will receive and respond to the request.
Since the TMN environment is dynamic, the management information often changes. For example, changes may include TMN applications"" characteristics, such as an Application Entity Title (xe2x80x9cAETxe2x80x9d), modifications to the location of TMN applications within the network, such as a Presentation Address, or modifications to parameters which are needed for Association Control Service Element (xe2x80x9cACSExe2x80x9d), such as parameters used for association establishment, including Access Control, SMASE User Data, and Functional Units. As these application characteristics change, applications attempting to contact them must be notified of the changes or else communication will be unsuccessful.
Because the management information, including routing information, is dynamic and is referenced numerous times by the various applications, it is desirable to be able to access the management information rapidly and manipulate it as needed in a simple and expeditious manner. This would reduce the existing performance degradation that occurs during message routing. Routing information includes the information required to route a message between application and message format information as required by the receiving application. Message format information includes the characteristics of the managed object, that is the receiving application, and Association Control service elements (xe2x80x9cASCFxe2x80x9d) information associated with the receiving application.
Existing TMN systems fail to address the above identified problems. Information required to establish an association between applications is not contained in conventional directory services databases and provided to user applications. Current implementations fail to provide runtime notification to user applications of changes that occur in remote directory services database. Further, existing systems fail to support user environments that control when their local directory services databases are automatically updated.
Existing applications implementing the X-Open""s Directory Services API (xe2x80x9cXDSxe2x80x9d) standard must imbed the complexity of X/Open OSI-Abstract Data Manipulation (xe2x80x9cXOMxe2x80x9d) objects manipulation and the performance penalty of implementing X-500 Directories. Existing systems fail to provide all association information and application characteristic information in a single location that is accessible to user applications in a network wide consistent format.
Further, existing systems fail to provide thread-safeness, efficient directory caching and efficient usage of memory to maximize performance in thread-safe APIs. Additionally, current Directory Services implementations do not provide an API that is directly usable by TMN applications.
An objective of the invention is to allow a TMN agent or manager application to use the Enhanced Directory Services to retrieve CMIP routing information from directory services such that the application need not track and monitor the information about the requested application.
Also, an object of the invention is to allow TMN agent applications and manager applications to send and receive CMIP messages to and from a dispatcher application. The dispatch application routes the CMIP request using the information in the Enhanced Directory Services.
A further object of the invention is to provide enhanced directory services that allow applications to use the Enhanced Directory Services to retrieve message routing information, including CMIP routing information, from a database or a directory file.
These and other objects, features and advantages are achieved in a TMN system with enhanced directory services that maintain routing and characteristic information.